We’ll probably be hearing about minor casting for The Hobbit for months to come. We’ll even hear about some major names — no one has yet been announced as the voice of the dragon Smaug, for example. This story is a good middle ground. The Master of Laketown may not be a huge character, but if he’s played by Stephen Fry, things change a little bit. Straight from director Peter Jackson, we’ve got confirmation that Mr. Fry is in the film as well as info on two more newly-cast roles.

I can’t really say it any better than Peter Jackson does, so I’ll go to the casting portion of list latest missive to fans:

We are thrilled to confirm that Stephen Fry will be playing The Master of Laketown. I’ve known Stephen for several years, and we’re developing a DAMBUSTERS movie together. In addition to his writing skills, he’s a terrific actor and will create a very memorable Master for us.

The Master’s conniving civil servant, Alfrid will be played by Ryan Gage. Ryan is a great young actor who we originally cast in a small role, but we liked him so much, we promoted him to the much larger Alfrid part.

Last, and certainly not least, is Conan Stevens, who will be playing an Orc called Azog (Orcs are never called Roger or Dennis for some strange reason). And yes that’s his name—Conan! Isn’t that cool? Azog is played by Conan! Here’s a photo of Conan and I together… I’m pretty tall, probably at least 6’5″ or 6’6″ I would guess, so that gives you some clue how tall Conan is! You can learn all about him at www.conanstevens.com.

There’s a bit more info from Peter Jackson’s latest Facebook post, so check that out if you want everything he had to say. Here’ s the photo he mentioned: